Breakfast/brunch pizza

Mark here...I was inspired to try this recipe after reading this blog post:

http://garlicgirl.com/2011/09/05/breakfast-pizza/

I'm generally not a fan of anything that looks remotely like baking, but this seemed pretty easy...although I still managed to get flour everywhere in my kitchen...

I used the dough recipe from http://chefchuckscucina.blogspot.com 

Ingredients

Dough:

4 1/2 cups of flour

2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon of yeast

1 tablespoon of sugar

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

Topping:

Fresh Mozzarella

2 eggs

2 heirloom tomatoes

prosciutto

fresh baby arugula

I made the dough and put it in the fridge overnight.  Begin by adding the yeast to the water and let it dissolve about 15-20 minutes.  Then add the sugar, olive oil and vinegar to it. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor and then slowly add the water mixture to this.  Eventually a ball will form.  Tip the ball onto a floured board and knead until it gets less sticky.  Add more flour if necessary.  Oil a bowl and put the ball into it, cover with a towel and let it rest/expand.  It needs 2 hours, but mine was in the fridge overnight.

When ready, preheat the oven to 500F and lay out the flour into the shape you want your pizza.  You will need a bit more flour and then transfer to a cookie sheet or pizza stone.  One mistake I made was letting the pizza get too thick.  There's a reason they do all that flipping and tossing in a pizzeria!  I plan on trying pizza again to get it right but basically the center should be thin.

After laying it out I sliced and layed out mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes and then prosciutto bits.  I originally put some baby arugula but this is best added when the pizza comes out of the oven so it can slightly wilt.  Put the pizza in the oven for about 5-7 minutes.  In the meantime crack the eggs into separate bowls.  Remove the pizza and add the eggs on top.  Cook another 5-7 minutes or until the eggs are done.  I like mine white but the yolks runny.  Remove the pizza and sprinkle with arugula and serve...

Things to do on a Rainy Day

Ok guys.  Laurel here.  Apparently things to do on a rainy day include cheating on your husband...because that's what Donna's mom does in this episode!

The gang heads down to the four seasons or shutters or the Beverly Wilshire or whatever to try and meet the band Color me Badd (I know) because they are playing a sold out show at the Whiskey but of course the gang thinks hey can score a way in to the show somehow.

Wouldn't you know it?  Donna's mom is having an affair at that very hotel.  and wouldn't you know it?  Donna happens to be on her floor looking for Color me Badd when she instead finds her mom making out with some dude at his room, but IN THE HALLWAY.  How about a little discretion Donna's mom?

Mark here.... Laurel did a great job of recapping the episode.  All in all it was a "funner" episode than the last 3! One thing that was sort of creepy is when Kelly goes back to the hotel room with Color Me Badd! Um ! Date Rape!  It's so weird?!

There's a subplot with the boys attempting to get a stripper to come to the house (Because Jim and Cindy just had to step out?).  Unfortunately Andrea shows up and reminds the boys that the stripper is a human being by talking to her about her life. Wah Wah Andrea. So when Andrea finally leaves its much less sexy to watch the girl try and strip. Thanks, Andrea.  This is what she looks like when she comes to the door.  Do you think she brought a bag of Carp?

There's not too much else to say about the episode.  It was entertaining because of Color Me Badd, and slightly awful. No quotes...

Cocktail moment is clearly any reference to Color Me Badd, who really define douchebag....

Style award goes to Donna for her matching red and black diamonds outfit including red and black diamond hot pants, and a red leather jacket...

Meeting Mr Pony

Mark here...god damn it this was another stinker! this episode, called "Meeting Mr Pony" was awful. Basically, Brenda is hanging out at the Peach Pitt after dark (sorry not the Peach Pitt After Dark, that comes later), and while Brandon and Dylan are fooling around out back...not literally sadly...Brenda gets held up by some thug.  The whole rest of the episode is Brenda dealing with some PTSD.  Really?!? Who the F cares?! The only funny moment comes as Brenda, who is clearly dealing with issues, is in class with a super chatty annoying Andrea.  She basically tells her to shut up, which is always fun.

Otherwise this episode sucked.  Even Jim and Cindy, normally the voices of reason, are late to catch on to Brenda's trauma.  I mean really, your daughter has been held up and you're fine with it? Sure they came around, but I don't really believe it would've taken them that long to figure it out.  Basically a blah episode...

Laurel here..I agree with Mark, what a snoozer!

Here's another Andrea moment worth mentioning...When the gang gets back to the Walsh house from somewhere, Andrea is just casually reading in the Walsh's living room.  What is she reading?  The Bible?  A dictionary?  Ulysses?  The Torah?  We may never know.

Style award this episode goes to...Cindy yet again!  For her little house on the prairie ensemble.  Way to go Cindy!

The Pit and the Pendulum

Hi guys Laurel here...So this episode was even more of a snoozer than the last.  Mainly Mark and me talked about our plans for after we win powerball tonight but we also watched the episode.  We are good at multi tasking.

So this episode, one of Jim's clients, an investor, wants to build a huge shopping mall where the Peach Pit is so they are offering to buy Nat out.  The Pit has fallen on hard times, Nat can barely afford to stay open so it looks like he will have to take the offer.  Oh no!  No Peach Pit!  What is everyone going to do?  Brandon will have to find a new job!  Brenda will have to find a new venue to hone her acting chops!  Andrea will have to find somewhere besides school to be annoying!

So of course Brandon wants to save the Peach Pit.  Which puts him at odds with a hot college girl he has a crush on who is the daughter of the main investor, and also Jim who obviously wants to close this deal for his client, Peach Pit be damned.  So drama ensues then in the end the deal falls through and the Peach Pit is saved!  Yay!

Mark here...so Laurel did a great job of summing up the calamity that would ensue should the Peach Pitt close.  All I can add is, once the deal falls through everyone is so psyched! Nat is thrilled to go back to 60 hour weeks at an old diner in Beverly Hills!  That expensive check means nothing after teenage Brandon's heartfelt talk about the "history" of the Peach Pitt! The staff is ecstatic to go back to their minimum wage jobs slinging burgers! Yay!!

Our quote of note this episode goes to Brenda, mustering all her sympathy at the closing of the Peach Pitt..."I like Nat too Brandon, I mean he even named a milkshake after me!"  I imagine that milkshake involves cayenne pepper and garlic...

Style award goes to the always reliable Cindy Walsh for her color-blocked shirt at the beginning of the episode....

Every time anyone mentions the cook Willie needing to keep his job is a definite cocktail moment.  I'm just guessing here but I think we'll never hear about Willie again!

Cardio-Funk

Mark here...Laurel and I are on to the next episode of 90210, "Cardio-Funk".  I've made my first attempt at pizza.  This is a breakfast/brunch version.  it turned out ok, although in the future I will know to thin the crust a bit more.

Anyway, on to the episode...this one was a bit of a snore.  The title refers to the pseudo-aerobics class that Kelly and Brenda have joined.  Of course, Brenda scandalously meets some buff dude who is clearly interested in her.  Meanwhile, said buff dude looks 37 and gay.  But regardless, Kelly teases Brenda and Brenda acts "confused" by the attention. She is after all, dating Dylan...

Dylan has his own distraction.  I forget the girls name but it doesn't matter...he meets a needy girl in AA.  This girl says train wreck from a mile away!  Every scene she is in screams "wah wah..."  Also, the show manages to make entering AA seem like the most life-sucking experience ever!  Like, goodbye life, from now on I'll just wear black and reminisce about when I used to be fun.  Really encouraging!!

There's a subplot about the Peach Pitt getting a karaoke machine...wackiness ensues, but I'll let Laurel divulge that....

Hi Laurel here...Yeah Jim gets a karaoke machine from some client for the peach pit but Jim is the only one who is into it, it didn't create any new business like Nat was hoping.  OMG Jim Walsh is totally obsessed with karaoke.  He only sings songs from before 1965.  That's probably because of licensing the music for the show but it also makes sense that Jim would only croon the oldies.  If he wasn't so terrible it might be funny.

The girl Dylan is trying to rescue is super boring, and of course she is back on the sauce by the end of the episode so his attempts at rescue were futile.

Cocktail moment is anytime somebody goes to an AA meeting, which happens a lot this episode because of that dumb girl.

Our favorite quote this episode...It turns out Brandon and Brenda know the super boring girl from AA because she was surfing drunk one time and almost drowned, but Brandon and Brandon rescue her (the twins nail it again!).   When Dylan tells Brandon that he saw her at he meeting and that she remembers him Brandon replies "That's because I give great mouth to mouth"  Way to be super cheesy and an asshole at the same time Brandon!

Style award this episode goes to...Brenda!  For her sweat pants camel toe.  Way to hike up those cut off sweats Brenda!

Duck Confit Hash

I got the inspiration for this recipe from this blog post, though I changed some details (and made Laurel's with sausage instead of duck):

http://eatlikeagirl.com/2013/12/08/duck-confit-hash-for-sunday-breakfast-recipe/

Ingredients:

Duck Leg Confit (I bought mine from McCall's Meat and Fish already prepared) or breakfast sausage
Duck Fat (The duck leg I bought was great, but did not include enough fat for the potatoes)
Potatoes, cubed for hash
Red Onion, sliced in half moons
eggs
white wine vinegar
salt
pepper
parsley

Begin by boiling the potatoes until tender and then drain.  While they are boiling fry the onions on a medium low heat in duck fat (about 2 tablespoons) until they brown and carmelize. Be careful not to get too hot or they will blacken not brown.

Heat the duck leg in about a 350 degree oven until warm.  The confit doesn't really need to cook so just make sure its warm and the skin is crisp then remove from the oven.  Alternatively, if you are using sausage, heat a tablespoon or so of the duck fat and remove the sausage from its casing and break up in the pan.  Allow it to brown...

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, add salt and a few tablespoons of white wine vinegar.

In another pan, add 2 tablespoons of duck fat and brown the drained potatoes until they start to crisp.  Then add the onions and, if using, sausage.  If using duck confit, break up the leg meat and skin with a fork and add.

Drop 2 eggs in the boiling water and poach for about 2 and a half minutes.  Serve hash on a plate and top with poached egg and chopped parsley. Salt and pepper to taste and serve...